Columbia leaders continue to discuss trash service

Columbia city leaders met with residents several times last month to discuss how the city operates its trash service.

They’re hoping to get more people to recycle while also helping the trash collectors themselves.

Public Works said it spends thousands of dollars every year on workers compensation claims.

The department said it has spent $300,000 per year for the last five years on workers compensation claims for trash collectors alone.

In Columbia, you have to leave your trash on the curb for a truck to haul. Public Works said one truck picks up trash from 900 homes a day. The city is hoping to make changes to the service, whether through rolling trash bins or other ways.

At meetings last month, some residents like the service the way it is.

Rolling bins leave some people with disabilities at a disadvantage.

The city is also trying to find more ways to recycle. Right now, it only diverts 17% of the waste from the landfill. They want to get that number to the national average of 34%.